Rigging apparatus



Feb. 4; 1969 RIGGING APPARATUS Filed May 12, 1967 Sheet of '2 FEL DMA/V INVENTORS 0860/? By MAR/V 8 JANGARATH/S ATTORNEYS s. FELDMAN ETAL I 3,425,738

1969 FELDMAN ETAL. 3,425,738

RIGGING APPARATUS Filed May 12. 1967 She et z of 2 United States Patent 3,425,738 RIGGIN G APPARATUS Samuel I. Feldman, Fairlawn, N..I., and Talford S. DeCuir, Beaumont, Tex., assignors to The Lummus Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 12, 1967, Ser. No. 638,067 US. Cl. 294-74 Int. Cl. B66c 1/12 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Disclosure One of the most expensive and detailed evolutions in the major construction industry is the rigging of a large, heavy object such as a fluid vessel, a fractionating column, or the like. Such devices can weigh as much as 600 tons or more. Heretofore, the planning for the rigging of such .a load had to be commenced long in advance of the actual lift, and often required detailed communication between personnel in fabrication areas and personnel at usually remote construction sites.

Among the major planning limitations has been that the orientation of the object, for shipping to a construction site, is often dictated by the on-site situation as to possible locations for lifting equipment. Prior to shipment, riggers in the field have determined where equipment can be positioned to effect a lift and this, in turn, has determined the orientation of the object on the carrier which will transport it to the site. Thereafter, any deviation from the preliminary planning has been found to cause extensive and expensive delays.

An additional problem, which has arisen when pre-orientation of an object prior to shipping is required, is that the orientation dictated by field conditions may not be the best travelling orientation of the object and thus, the likelihood of damage is increased. It would be advantageous, therefore, if an object to be lifted at a construction site could be oriented for most eflicient shipping without undue regard to construction site limitations.

The rigging of large, heavy objects, once they have been received at the construction site, has been accomplished by the use of such apparatus as choker slings, trunnion poles mounted through the object, and pads welded to the object surface. These expedients have been unwieldy and inefficient in their use since they require advance structural preparation of the object to be lifted, and removal after lifting and setting in place. Further, the use of welded pads, and particularly the use of trunnion poles, has often resulted in violation of the structural integrity of the lifted object requiring extensive repair or reassembly under the usually less than convenient conditions encountered on-site. When the object to be lifted is a stress relieved structure, any pads which are used for lifting must be left on after placement and this is often undesirable.

In view of the above-noted problems, and others known to those skilled in the art, it is an object of the present p ce invention to provide a rigging apparatus which reduces the amount of advance planning required incidental to the lifting of an object.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a rigging apparatus which does not reuqire a strict preorientation of the object to be lifted prior to shipping to the job site.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a rigging apparatus which affords greater latitude in the on-site relationship between lifting equipment positioning and orientation of the object to be lifted.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a rigging apparatus which does not require violation of the structural integrity of or attachment of structural devices to the object to be lifted.

Yet an additional object of the present invention is to provide a rotating arm device for use in a rigging apparatus whereby the object to be lifted is supported in two planes and the load of the object may be shifted from one plane to the other during, or after, lifting.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a rotating arm device which facilitates both the lifting of heavy objects and rotation thereof during, or after, lifting.

These and other objects are achieved by the present invention which embodies a novel bridle assembly utilizing a novel rotating arm device having two sets of norlrnally oriented support cable receiving sheaves, and which arm device is used in pairs in bridle assemblies for lifting heavy objects. The arm device of this invention when positioned and secured with respect to an object to be lifted, will allow the object to be lifted and rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration without loss of support or positive control during lift or rotation.

The exact nature of this invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will be readily apparent from a consideration of the following specification relating to the annexed drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bridle assembly according to the present invention shown in lifting position on a horizontally oriented cylindrical vessel;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of a rotating arm device according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a rotational arm device according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view through the plane 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view through the plane 5-5 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate like parts, there can be seen in FIG. 1 a bridle assembly 10 for lifting a cylindrical vessel 12. The bridle assembly 10 has a first rotating arm device, designated generally by the reference numeral 14, and a second rotating arm device (not shown), the block devices being positioned diametrically opposite each other on the surface of cylindrical vessel 12. It is to be understood that the second rotating arm device is a mirror image of the first rotating arm device 14. Accordingly, only the first rotating arm device will be described in detail. A vessel supporting girth purchase 15 is reaved between the first and second rotating arm devices and under the vessel 12 for support when the vessel is horizontally oriented. Vessel supporting end purchases 16 are reaved from the first and second rotating arm devices to blocks 13 which are suitably secured to a skirt 11 of vessel 12 for support when the vessel is vertically oriented. The rotating arm devices are positioned on the vessel initially by the use of a girth positioning cable 17 which extends between the first and second rotating arm devices over the vessel 12, and an end positioning cable 18 which also extends between the first and second rotating arm devices around the end of the vessel 12 opposite that adjacent the end purchases 16.

Referring now to FIGS. 25, there can be seen a rotating arm device 14 according to the present invention. The particular arm device shown and described is adapted to carry a 150-ton load and thus, when rigged, the bridle assembly with which it is used will carry a 300-ton load. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art, however, that by selectively sizing the arm structure, loads of virtually any reasonable size can be accommodated.

Each rotating arm device 14 has as its basic structure a sheave support element 22 comprising two spaced plates 23 joined by a fitting-receiving eye 24 (FIG. 4) on one side and four sheave pin support plates 26 secured, as by welding, in recessed portions 27 along the lower edges of the plate as seen in FIG. 2. Plates 23 are provided with three pairs of aligned apertures 30, 31 and 32. Apertures 30 are located adjacent one end of the plates 23 as best seen in FIG. 2, and are aligned with a bore 28 in eye 24. Apertures 32, spaced substantially centrally of the arm device 14 at a point which will be exactly described hereinafter, rotatably receive a pin 34 for mounting a main support hanger 36 between the plates 23. Apertures 31 are disposed between apertures 30 and 32, and rotatably receive a pin 35 for mounting end purchase sheaves 40, to be discussed hereinafter. The longitudinal axes of aperture 30, 31 and 32 are parallel and contained in a single plane which is substantially perpendicular to the major surfaces of spaced plates 23.

Sheave pin support plates 26 depend from spaced plates 23 and are secured, as by welding, in recessed portions 27. The planes of the plates 26 are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the major planes of plates 23. The plates 26 are provided with aligned apertures 33 for rotatably receiving a pin 37 for mounting girth purchase sheaves 45 and a vessel engaging device which is generally designated by the reference numeral 50.

As is best seen in FIG. 4, the end purchase sheave assembly comprises three sheaves 41, 42 and 43 rotatably mounted on pin 35 and secured against longitudinal movement along the pin by suitable securing devices 44. Sheave 42 is mounted between spaced plates 23 of sheave support element 22, and the sheaves 41, 43 are mounted outwardly on either side of spaced plates 23. The sheave sizes are dependent upon the desired capacity of the arm device and for the disclosed embodiment, Where desired arm capacity is 150 tons, the sheaves are sized to accommodate 1 /2" cable.

Referring to FIG. 2, the girth purchase sheave assembly 45 can be seen to comprise four sheaves, a first pair 46 rotatably mounted on pin 37 and disposed between two of the sheave pin support plates 26, and a second pair 47 rotatably mounted on pin 37 and disposed between the remaining two sheave pin support plates 26. Sheaves 46 and 47, as well as other structures to be described, are restrained from longitudinal movement along pin 37 by suitable locking devices 48 provided therethrough. As noted above with respect to sheaves 41, 42 and 43, sheave sizes are dependent upon the desired capacity of the arm device. For the disclosed embodiment, where arm capacity is 150 tons, sheaves 46 and 47 are sized to accommodate 1 /2" cable.

Also mounted on pin 37, and supported by sheave pin support plates 26, is a vessel engaging device 50. This device, which is provided to stand the sheave assemblies away from the vessel surface includes four stand-off plates 51, each having an aperture 52 for receiving pin 37 rotatably therethrough. The stand'oif plates 51 are generally triangular in configuration with apertures provided adjacent each corner, one being the aforementioned aperture 52, and the others 53 being provided to receive pins 55 for pivotally mounting vessel surface engaging members 54, FIG. 5. The plates 51 are received between three pairs of spaced apertured dogs 56 on the members 54 and secured thereto by pins 55 which extend through apertures 4 in the dogs 56 and the apertures 53. A pad 57, of suitable material such as a rubber or plastic, is adhesively secured to the surface of member 54 so as to avoid damage to the vssel 12 during engagement and lifting.

A hanger 61 is rotatably mounted on the pin 55 of the centrally disposed pair of dogs 56 and between the two interior stand-01f plates 51. This hanger receives a girth tensioning cable 61 which will be discussed in detail hereinafter.

In addition to the girth purchase sheave assembly 45 and a vessel engaging device 50, there is also rotatably mounted on pin 37 a hanger 62 for securing the lead end of girth cable purchase 15, The hanger 62 has an aperture in one end for receiving pin 37, and an eye 63 in the other end to receive a socketed fitting (not shown).

As is best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, an apertured dog 59 is provided substantially centrally on the outwardly facing surface 60 of stand-off plate 51. This dog is adapted to receive and secure the socketed end of end positioning cable 18, the function of which will be discussed hereinafter.

The main support hanger 36, rotatably mounted on pin 34 between spaced plates 23, is provided at its pin opposite end with a boss 38 having a bore 39 therein for receiving a cup shackle (not shown), of the main lifting cable 19. Thus it can be seen that when an object is lifted, the load is transmitted through the main support hanger 36 and pin 37 to the sheave support element 22, wherefrom it is carried by either the girth purchase or end purchase or both depending upon the orientation of the vessel in the bridle assembly.

Operation In order to utilize the rotating arm device of the present invention to lift and rotate a large vessel such as the cylindrical vessel 12 of FIG. 1, the bridle assembly is first made up. Thus, the lead end of a girth support cable 20 is secured to hanger 62 of the first rotating arm device 14. It is thereafter reaved around the girth support sheaves of a second rotating arm device (not shown) and the sheaves 46, 47 of the girth purchase sheave assembly 45 of first arm device 14 to define a vessel supporting girth pur chase 15. The bitter end of the girth support cable 20 is secured as desired by a tensioning cable clamp of the type well known to those skilled in the art.

The vessel supporting end purchases 16 are made up by securing the socketed lead end of end support cables 21 through the opening in the end of sheave support element 22 defined by apertures 30 and the bore 28 in eye 24. The cables 21 are thereafter reaved around the sheaves of standard blocks 13, which are secured to the skirt 11 of vessel 12, and the sheaves 41, 42 and 43 of the end purchase sheave assembly 40 of the respective arm devices 14, and secured as desired by a tensioning cable clamp.

It is desirable that the bridle assembly be accurately positionable on a vessel to be lifted. To this end, girth positioning cable 17 and end positioning cable 18 have been provided. Each of the positioning cables is an adiustable length cable, of the types which are generally known in the art, secured to suitable hangers or dogs on the rotating arm devices. Thus, in positioning the bridle assembly on the vessel 12, the girth positioning cable 17 is attached to the hangers 61 of the first and second rotating arm devices, and the length of the cable 17 is adjusted until the upper surface engaging member 54 of each rotating arm device is substantially along the equator of the cylinder. In this position, the upper surface engaging members 54, pivot pins 55, pin 34, and while the vessel is horizontally oriented, pin 35, are aligned. End positioning cable 18 is also adjusted so as to position the axes of pins 34 of the first and second rotating arm devices in a vetrical plane containing the center of gravity of vessel 12.

With the first and second rotating arm devices positioned as desired, the girth purchase 15 and end purchases 16 are taken in until tight and secured, and the bridle assembly is ready for the lift.

Lifting cables 19 from the lifting machinery, e.g., cranes, gin pole rigs, etc., are securely attached to main support hanger 36 through bores 39, and the vessel is lifted. Once sufficient height is attained to achieve maneuverability, the vessel 12 can be rotated about pin 34 from a horizontal to a vertical orientation, thus gradually shifting support of the vessel from the girth purchase to the end purchases. When the vessel is placed in its final position, the bridle assembly can be disassembled and moved elsewhere for reuse.

Thus it can be seen that the present invention provides a flexible means for lifting and rotating large heavy objects, which does not require pads, trunnion poles or other devices attached to the object to be lifted. The advantages and economies to be realized from this invention will be readily recognized by those concerned with this art.

What is claimed is:

l. A rotating arm device for use in a bridle assembly for rigging objects, comprising:

a first sheave assembly including a plurality of sheaves rotatably mounted on a first sheave supporting pin;

a second sheave assembly including a plurality of sheaves rotatably mounted on a second sheave supporting pin;

support means for rotatably supporting said first sheave supporting pin and said second sheave supporting pin; plate means pivotally mounted on said second sheave support pin and extending outwardly therefrom;

surface engaging means, mounted on said plate means, for engaging the surface of an object to be rigged; and

hanger means rotatably mounted on said support means for connecting said rotating arm device to an object moving means.

2. The rotating arm device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said support means comprises a plurality of plates rigidly secured in spaced relationship.

3. The rotating arm device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said plurality of plates are provided with a first set of aligned apertures for supportably receiving said first sheave supporting pin.

4. The rotating arm device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said plurality of plates are provided with a second set of aligned apertures for receiving a pin for rotatably mounting said hanger means.

5. The rotating arm device of claim 2 and further including a plurality of sheave support plates normally secured to and dependent from said support means plates, said sheave support plates having aligned apertures therein for receiving said second sheave supporting pin.

6. Apparatus for rigging an object to be hoisted and rotated comprising:

first engaging means for engaging the surface of said object;

second engaging means for engaging the surface of said object opposite said first engaging means; means for positioning said engaging means;

first sheave support means pivotally mounted on said first engaging means;

second sheave support means, pivotally mounted on said second engaging means;

first and second sheave means mounted on said first sheave support means;

third and fourth sheave means mounted on said second sheave support means;

said first and third means for reaving a first object supporting purchase;

said second and fourth sheave means for reaving second object supporting purchases;

said first and second purchases for supporting normal loads components; and

means rotatably mounted on each of said first and second sheave support means for engaging a means for hoisting said object.

'7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein the axes of rotation of said first and third sheave means are perpendicular to the axes of rotation of said second and fourth sheave means.

8. A bridle assembly for lifting a heavy object, comprising? a girth supporting purchase;

end supporting purchases;

rotating means individually receiving said girth supporting purchase, one of said end. supporting purchases for permitting the rotation of said heavy object so as to shift the load of said object from one of said supporting purchases to the other of said supporting purchases, said rotating means including a plurality of arm devices, each arm device comprising a first sheave assembly for receiving a girth supporting cable to define said girth supporting purchase, and a second sheave assembly for receiving an end supporting cable to define an end supporting purchase.

9. A rotating arm device for use with means for rigging objects comprising:

a first sheave assembly mounted on a support means;

a second sheave assembly mounted on said support means;

connecting means pivotally mounted on said support means for connecting said rotating arm device to a means for moving said object; and

object engaging means pivotally mounted on said support means, said object engaging means for engaging the surface of said object to be rigged and for maintaining said first and second sheave assemblies and said support means displaced from the surface of said object.

10. A rotating arm device for use with means for rigging objects comprising:

a first sheave assembly mounted on a support means;

a second sheave assembly mounted on a pin in said support means;

connecting means pivotally mounted on said support means for connecting said rotating arm device to a means for moving said object; and

object engaging means pivotally mounted on said pin for mounting said sheave assembly, said object engaging means for engaging the surface of said object to be rigged and for maintaining said first and second sheave assemblies and said support means displaced from the surface of said object.

11. A rotating arm device as claimed in claim 9 Wherein said object engaging means comprises at least one standoff plate pivotally mounted on said support means, and a plurality of surface engaging members at least one of which is located to contain the axis of rotation of said connecting means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,222,166 4/ 1917 Weaver 294-74 1,796,328 3/1931 Hawkins 254-192 2,076,758 4/1937 Whiting 29474 2,492,172 12/ 1949 Mo1ris 294-74 3,191,787 6/1965 Stearn 294-74 3,353,794 11/1967 Smith 254-192 FOREIGN PATENTS 61,994 5/ 1913 Switzerland.

EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

H. C. HORNSBY, Assistant Examiner. 

